In June I decided to do a 20 day cleanse. Let me share how this all happened because it definitely was not planned. My dad purchased this full body cleanse for my mom from DHerbs. The package comes and what my parents didn't realize was that it required you to take pills everyday, 30 pills to be exact.
Yeah, 30. Now my mom has trouble taking one Tylenol so my dad knew this was going to be a disaster. I happened to be coming in the house mid conversation and just said, "I will do it." No rhyme or reason just blurted out, "I'm in". It was a Friday and I decided I would start this cleanse on Sunday, June 2nd. Let me first explain the significance of June 2nd that I didn't even realize until midway through the cleanse. Starting on Sunday, June 2nd dispelled the myth of starting things on significant days. We are all guilty of saying I'm gonna start that diet on Monday, or on the 1st of the month, or in the New Year. But here I was starting on the 2nd and on a Sunday. It took away all the anxiety of this being a resolution but rather just a random decision to do something great.
So I start on this journey. The cleanse only allows, raw fruits, raw veggies and raw nuts. You can make smoothies, fresh juices, salads and some other recipes I didn't have the patience to try! I kept it really basic and habitual. Smoothie in the morning, salad or veggie juice in the afternoon, salad or cauliflower rice concoction in the evening. My snacks were mostly nuts or oranges. I drank a gallon of water a day. My water had lemon always and sometimes mint. Then every 2-3 hours, I took 5 pills. I was never hungry, between the food I could have, the water and the pills, I was always full. I went food shopping once a week and prepared everything I needed. I would cut up all my fresh fruit and place them in individual baggies and place them in the freezer. That way I could grab one and make my smoothie. My smoothies consisted of the frozen bag of fruit, a banana and water. My salad was pre-made. Lettuce, carrots and cucumbers already chopped & mixed together. When it was time to have my salad I would have to add my tomatoes, avocados, sunflower seeds, etc. Now the biggest thing that did hurt me was the need for salad dressing. I tried making my own and sweet baby Jesus it was not cutting it. So I googled my life away! And because Jesus is so great I found a raw salad dressing from Trader Joe's!!! It got me through the second half of this cleanse. My veggie juice was juiced from the very beginning and then I froze it so I could make it last the entire cleanse. And by juice being juiced and frozen, I mean my dad hooked me up with all of the above. And by salad being chopped and prepared I mean my mom got that together too. LOL
I seriously could not have gotten through this cleanse had I not had the support of my parents. They both pretty much followed my food restraints and when they didn't they simply went out to eat. They made sure that I was going to be successful on this journey. I also isolated myself from my friends. I texted everyone like listen I'm going on a cleanse and you won't hear from me for 20 days. They all said, do your thing!
The first 3 days were the most difficult because of the adjustment. But on day 3 I died, you can read about it. But once I got beyond day 3 it was smooth sailing, I hit my groove. In my first week, I lost 15 lbs. Week 2 I lost 3 lbs and week 3 I lost 3.6 lbs. A total of 21.6 lbs. Now I didn't go into this to lose weight but that was inevitable because of the food change. Ultimately I went into this to feel better. One of the biggest things for me was my ankles were not swollen the entire time of the cleanse. I could not believe it. I've dealt with my swollen ankles for years. I also slept so well. Besides getting up to pee from all the water, I slept like a baby. I also have never felt better in my life. Between my body feeling good, my mind being clear and my soul at peace, I could not have asked for more. That time to myself was priceless.
I enjoyed this journey so much that I took 4 days off to enjoy some cooked food and fish and then started again for another 20 day cleanse. So as you are reading this I am probably praying for some cooked Salmon as I did the first time around but still feeling better than ever. I completely recommend this cleanse. I know 20 days can seem like a big task but they have a 10 day one as well. Try it, you will not be disappointed.
#dear20daycleanse Thank you